Staff

Sharon Dennis is a Co-Founder and the Executive Director of Eyes Wide Open Mentoring. Ms. Dennis began her career in social justice and child advocacy when, as a tutor for a youngster living in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of Washington, D.C., she was struck by the disparate living conditions of – and opportunities available to – inner-city school children. Her avocation became her vocation when she joined the National Black Child Development Institute, which focused on improving conditions for Black children in the areas of education, child welfare, and health. There, she helped develop a program, generously funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, to mobilize the community in five pilot cities to work one-on-one with at-risk youth to increase their chances of success in school and beyond. Following law school, Ms. Dennis worked as a staff attorney for the National Audubon Society, where she built a powerful coalition that brought social justice groups to lobby alongside the environmental community on a range of issues. While stepping away from the law to raise two daughters, Ms. Dennis worked as a grant writer for the Trust for Public Land, where she focused on bringing parks and playgrounds into inner city neighborhoods as a catalyst for community development. As a community leader in her children’s school district, she was active in fundraising and promoting student achievement, as well as outreach to new immigrant communities. More recently, Ms. Dennis received specialized student advocacy training from the Took Cowell Institute for At-Risk Youth at the U.D.C. David A. Clarke School of Law, and contributed to research that posits that children with education-related disabilities could substantially increase school success and reduce juvenile incarceration rates with vigorous special education advocacy. Since then, Ms. Dennis created and directed a new mentoring program serving homeless children for StandUp for Kids-DC. She has also worked as a tutor and mentor to at-risk adolescents in the D.C. foster care system, as well as youth under the supervision of the District of Columbia Superior Court as an independent contractor with the AFC Scholarship Foundation, Inc. Ms. Dennis received a B.A. in Politics from Mount Holyoke College, and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Rameka Blakey is a strategic thinker who understands that success is in the details, as well as in being of service to others. A trusted leader, she has more than 20 years of experience creating, managing, and directing youth programs that focus on academic enrichment, youth leadership, community advocacy, and mentoring. She has served as a Program Director at Breakthrough Providence, RI; Site Director of Kidz Klub in North Providence, RI; Director of Student Life at Achievement First Bridgeport Academy in Bridgeport, CT; Director of After School Programs at Homestretch in Falls Church, VA; and Program Manager at Mentors, Inc. in Washington, DC - all while serving as a volunteer mentor to several young women. A recipient of several community-service awards and nominations for professional excellence, Rameka uses her past work experiences as a high school teacher at The Wheeler School, a private school in Providence, RI, and as a Mental Health Counselor for the Department of Children Youth and Families in Providence, RI and Arbor Associates in Providence, RI, to inform her programmatic decision-making when servicing youth and their families. She received her Bachelors of Arts degree in Psychology from Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI, where she concentrated in Creative Writing. In her spare time, Rameka enjoys spending time with loved ones, listening to Gospel music, watching faith-based YouTube videos, traveling, reading, and mentoring.